


Not Another Teenage Romance

by Julieoftarth (Wherethereissmoak)



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-23
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-10-14 22:06:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17516696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wherethereissmoak/pseuds/Julieoftarth
Summary: Jaime needs a tutor, Brienne needs to learn that wrestling move that he knows. Is this the start of a beautiful frenemyship? Or more?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was for the prompt I got on tumblr to write a high school au where Jaime needs tutoring from Brienne. I hope the anon finds this enjoyable! 
> 
> Two things of note:   
> 1) High school fics are not my usual jam, so it was a bit of a challenge. (but I like a challenge)  
> 2) This is a tropey trope, but I did my best to make it as original as possible.

Jaime looked at his progress report in frustration. He was failing. Again. He knew that if his father caught wind of this, he would be in big trouble. He would probably be forced to spend all his weekends in his study copying sentences out of old history books like he did when he was little.

Jaime was dyslexic. He knew it. His teachers knew it. His father knew it but would not admit it. The great Tywin Lannister would be embarrassed to have son with a learning disability. He believed that it could all be fixed if Jaime just practiced hard enough.

Once in the second grade his father had made his hands bleed from writing so much. 

Now that he was in high school, it was easier to hide. Many papers were written on computers with spell check, and he had a e-reader that had a text-to-talk feature, so he could listen to all his books.

But now he was in the ancient languages course, and those things weren’t available digitally. And to top it all off, the professors wanted everything written by hand, in the old ways. Jaime had started to fall behind immediately.

Tyrion was too busy to help him, as he had taken a double course load with the goal to graduate early. What the younger Lannister sibling lacked in looks and athletic ability, he made up for in the academic arena. Jaime was the star on the football field, Tyrion the captain of the debate team.

Cersei just reigned the school as a queen bee and excelled in both academics and as the head cheerleader.

Jaime’s football skills were the pride of his father, but he would be kicked off the team if he didn’t bring his grades up. Fortunately, Tywin was out of town on business for the month, so Jaime had time to turn things around before the final report cards came out.

He sat down in the lunchroom away from his teammates. He needed to think, and that group of guys was a hindrance in that pursuit rather than a help.

Jaime needed someone to help him, but that would not let everyone else know that he had a learning disability. It had to be someone who knew what it was like to be different, someone who would be sympathetic to not sharing his secret for that reason. He scanned the room looking for a smart person that fit the bill.

His eyes settled on Brienne Tarth, the tall, gangly girl that had joined the wrestling team last year and had beaten everyone…except Jaime. She had come pretty close though, so he couldn’t help but admire her for that. But she hated him for it, because she thought he used dirty tricks to win.

They were not friends, no one was her friend. She had a prickly guard around her, probably because everyone was mean to her all the time for her looks. Brienne was built more like a man, and her face was not much to look at either. Crooked teeth and freckles were not made flattering by the messy mop of short blonde hair on her head that seemed untameable.

Still, she had blue eyes that Jaime couldn’t help but notice even when they glared at him in contempt. Yes, Tarth would be the one to help him. Not because she liked him, but because he would plead toward her noble side. To her team spirit. He played football and wrestled and could do neither without her academic aid.

If that didn’t work, he would offer her money. Not that he thought she would take it.

Gathering up all the charm he could muster, Jaime approached Brienne and sat down across from her.

“Tarth, good to see you. I see you are devouring another book with your food today. Couldn’t get anyone to talk to you during lunch?”

_ Dammit, Jaime, this is not the way to get her to help you.  _ But something about her always made him want to go for the teasing instead of his normal charm.

“What do you want, Lannister? I’m busy.”

She scowled at him, his reward for his teasing. He liked Brienne best when she was mad. Normally she hid herself from the world, but when she was mad – she was present in all her intimidating glory. It was fascinating.

“I came to ask you a favor. A big one.”

Brienne put down her book and folded her arms across her chest, giving him an exasperated expression. “In which universe do you imagine that I would do you any sort of favor?”

“The universe in which if I don’t bring my grades up, I can’t wrestle and then our school won’t win the championship this year. Do you want that?”  

She stared at him for a moment, confused. “But you get great grades. You’re in all my advanced placement classes.”

Jaime, aware of a plethora of curious eyes homing in on their conversation, looked around nervously. “Can we go somewhere else to have this conversation?”

Her scowl returned. “Ashamed to be seen with me?”

“Yes, well no, well…let’s just take this to the courtyard, can we?”

Gods knew why she followed him because he was bungling it all up. Perhaps she sensed some kind of distress on his behalf.

“Thanks for coming out here, Brienne. I didn’t want everyone to hear what I have to tell you. Something that only my family knows.”

“That you buy your grades?”

“What? No! That would be entirely dishonorable!”

“Just like your wrestling!”

He rolled his eyes at her accusations. “Will you stop with that nonsense for once? I’m trying to tell you something here. I have a learning disability…dyslexia. I’ve been able to hide it with all the technology we have today but this year…”

“We have to do everything by hand,” Brienne finished, giving him a look of sympathy. “Can’t your father hire you a tutor?”

“He doesn’t believe in disabilities and would say I only need to try harder. Please, Brienne, I need your help.”

She was silent for a minute, and Jaime started sweating nervously, the sounds of the other students coming out of the lunch room behind them making him antsy. They were going to be late for class if they didn’t hurry. And he knew that if Cersei spotted him talking to Brienne, she would have a lot of questions. His sister could be cruel when it came to women that showed interest in Jaime, as if she were jealous. He didn’t want Brienne in her line of fire, because while Brienne could physically destroy Cersei, his sister could rip her to shreds with just a few words.

“Brienne, please, say something…”

“Okay, I’ll help you, but on two conditions.”

Jaime groaned. “Ugh, this isn’t going to be like one of those teen movies where you want me to help you learn how to dress properly and flirt with boys in exchange for tutoring, is it?”

Brienne grimaced. “Ew, no.”

Jaime sighed in relief.

“Condition one is related to that concept though,” Brienne started, and Jaime braced himself. “Condition one is that you have to promise that this isn’t some kind of bet or excuse to get close to me so you can humiliate me in front of the whole school.”

“Gods, we really have to stop watching cheesy teen movies.”

Brienne gave him a sad smile. “Not everything is from the movies, Jaime.”

He stiffened at her words. “You mean some asshole tried that? Who is it, what happened?”

Brienne just shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about it. Let’s move on. Second condition. You have to teach me that move you used when you beat me in wrestling last time.”

Jaime perked up at that. “Oh, so you finally admit that I won fair and square because of my skill?”

Brienne lightly smacked him in the arm. “Shut up, Lannister. Do we have a deal, or not?”

He grinned. Jaime needed her help, but he would continue to have fun irking her from time to time. “Deal, when do we start?”

“Come to my house, after school. It’s a bit further out of town, so people won’t see you and wondering what you are up to.”

He quirked an eyebrow at that. “Now are you the one ashamed to be seen with me, Tarth?”

“Well, now that you mention it…”

“Oh please, I would only bring up your public image if people saw us together.”

She rolled her eyes. “Well, I know you wouldn’t want people to think we are dating, because well, I’m me. But I don’t want people to think we are dating either because well, you’re you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? You are not much to look at, sure, but I’m a catch! Any girl would be lucky to be on my arm.”

“Not this girl.”

She wrote her address down and handed him the paper and turned on her heels to hurry to class. Jaime quickened his step to keep up with her.

“Oh, come on, surely you’ve thought about it. Going out with a guy…or a girl for that matter. No judgement here. I’m sure during wrestling you wish one of the guys would be strong enough to take you down and have their way with you. I’m strong enough.”

“I’m not interested,” she huffed, turning toward her classroom.

“Don’t worry, I’m not interested either. Who would be?”

He grinned as she scowled at him before plopping down in her seat. Jaime always wanted to be the one to get in the last word.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First tutoring session at Brienne's house

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I forgot to post this yesterday! Hope you enjoy it. Many thanks to my lovely @ashleywritesstuff who was my beta.

Brienne replayed her conversation with Jaime in her head the whole way home. He was infuriating, and why she was helping him she did not know. Still, she had given him her word, and with that wrestling move she might have a chance to win at regionals, maybe even state.

When she told her father that Jaime was coming over to study, the man practically burst with glee that his daughter was finally bringing a boy home. Brienne didn’t have the heart to tell him that there was nothing between her and Jaime.

When the boy in question arrived, he was polite to Selwyn Tarth and took the snacks the man heaped on them before they went up to her room. Brienne had frantically picked up her mess after school, but now realized she had forgotten to clear off her bulletin board that had pictures, keepsakes and notes pinned to it.

“Oh my gods. You fancy Renly Baratheon,” Jaime said laughing. “Now I understand why you are always tailing after him with that big dull-witted stare. You know he’s gay, right?”

Brienne sighed. “Yes, I do.”

Jaime reached out and touched her elbow. “Hey, it’s okay. We don’t get to choose who we first fall for. Don’t tell anyone this, but I was pretty sure I was going to marry my sister when we were kids.”

“Gross,” Brienne scoffed.

“Right? Although Cersei had just read a book about the old Targaryen kings and queens marrying within the family and she was sure we were just like them. I’m so glad we got over that phase.”

Brienne didn’t comment, because she had seen the looks that Cersei shot any girl who got even a few feet close to Jaime. However, she decided to let him stay in blissful ignorance about his sister.

“Gods, I thought we were staying away from the teen clichés. And here you are, the ugly girl pining over a man she knows cannot love her back. So predictable and safe.”

Brienne wanted to smack him. She knew she was ugly, but for some reason it rankled hearing it come from him.

“Oh, and who should I pine for? You? I’m supposed to NOT be into unattainable men,” she blurted out, and then wanted to cover her mouth.

Now where had that come from? She didn’t want him to think that she thought about him like that – as someone unattainable that she was mooning over.

“Don’t worry, Lannister, I said I’m not interested.”

Gracefully, he said nothing, merely looked at her with an inscrutable expression. For once, she had rendered the ever-chatty Jaime Lannister silent.

“Should we get on with our studying? That’s why we’re here after all.”

He just nodded in agreement, and for the next hour, he laid on her bed while she sat on the end of it and read the text to him. She tried NOT to focus on Jaime laying on her bed, where she slept every night. Nope, she was not going to think about it at all.

**

Jaime found that he quite liked Brienne’s house. It didn’t have the overwhelming feeling of guilt and responsibility that Casterly Manor had. It felt like a home, and her room felt like a warm embrace. He almost fell asleep while she was reading to him, but for such a normally dour person, she put a lot of flare in her reading and kept him awake.

After they finished several chapters, Brienne surprised him by showing him several videos on WesterosTube that had tips for writing with dyslexia. His favorite was to sing his favorite song and look away while writing. Brienne burst into laughter when he sang the latest punk rock version of “The Bear and the Maiden Fair” while making faces at her.

But to his complete shock, he looked down and saw that he had written his sentences perfectly.

“Oh my gosh, it worked!” He leaped off the bed and gave Brienne a big hug. She stiffened against him at first before relaxing in his arms. But the hug felt kind of…nice. Brienne Tarth wasn’t half bad of a person when he forgot to act like a dick to her.

“I’m so glad it helped, Jaime. Do you want to meet Thursday at the same time? We probably should be wrapping it up today.”

Jaime looked at the clock in surprise, it was almost dinner time, and smells from the kitchen permeated upstairs. He couldn’t believe the time had gone so fast and he had enjoyed it.

“Sure, that sounds good. When do you want to do your wrestling lesson? Tomorrow?”

Why did he, one of the most popular guys in school, suddenly want to spend every afternoon with Brienne? He couldn’t explain it, but he would enjoy it while it lasted.

She nodded. “Sure, I will meet you in the gym after school.”

They stood in awkward silence for a moment before he finally started to gather up his things. “Thanks again, Brienne, I mean it. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

She just blushed at his words and showed him to the door. Mr. Tarth tried to invite Jaime to dinner, but he didn’t want to leave Tyrion home alone with Cersei. That was a recipe for disaster.  

The next day during school, Jaime found that his gaze kept seeking out Brienne. He saw her as she wandered through the halls between classes, trying to draw as little attention to herself as possible.

He saw when bullies went after a young freshman named Podrick Payne, Brienne had laid them flat. They were too embarrassed to be beaten up by a girl that they did not report her.

Jaime grinned when he saw that Payne trailed after her like a helpless puppy the rest of the day after that.

He saw that she read books during lunch so that no one would bother her, but some people tried, including Hyle Hunt. Hyle was on the wrestling team and had never seemed to be the type to pick on her, but still he could see that Brienne was uncomfortable in his presence. Jaime was about to walk over and intervene, when a hand clamped down on his shoulder.

“The great Jaime Lannister finally has it bad for someone. All these ladies throwing themselves at you and the only one that turns your head is that one.”

Jaime rolled his eyes at his friend’s words. “She is not turning my head.”

“You’ve been staring at her all day like she’s a ripe piece of meat.”

Jaime found himself turning red. Had he really been staring at Brienne that hard? After just a few hours with her yesterday, she was suddenly fascinating to him.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” He blew Bronn off and stormed out of the cafeteria. His friend didn’t have a clue. He was not attracted to Brienne Tarth. He only wanted to know more about her. Sure, she had eyes that you could drown in and her laugh made him smile, but that didn’t mean he liked her.

He stewed about the lunchtime conversation all day and had worked himself into quite a state when he arrived in the gym for their private wrestling practice. He halted in his step when he saw her.

Jaime had seen Brienne in her wrestling uniform loads of times – so why had he not noticed her legs before?

Her incredibly long legs seemed to go on forever. It was going to be an interesting wrestling practice.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaime and Brienne's feeling toward one another grow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I'm so sorry this took so long to update. My workload was a little out of control this week. 
> 
> Second of all, the awesome @ashwritesstuff is a lovely beta and is my fave. 
> 
> Finally, I hope you enjoy this chapter, which includes some JAB (high five to those who know what those letters mean).

“What’s gotten into you today? Are you upset about something?” Brienne asked Jaime for the third time during their wrestling practice. He had been brooding ever since entering the gym and had barely grunted three words at her until she reminded him that he would have to say more if she was to learn the move.

And then he had refused to get into his wrestling gear. Jaime had always loved putting on the tight uniform and strutting around the gym when ladies were around. Not that she noticed how he looked in the uniform.

Maybe he didn’t want to put it on since there was only her here and he didn’t care about impressing her with his body. Still, wrestling in jeans and a t-shirt seemed very impractical.

Jaime took several minutes to explain the move, but then when it was time to demonstrate – he hesitated to get on the mat with her.

“Jaime, we had a deal. Don’t tell me you are not going to be honorable and keep your end of it.”

He sighed and finally got on the mat with her. They practiced the move several times, with him getting the upper hand and pinning her. Finally, after five tries she figured it out and flipped Jaime over and landed on top of him.

“Yes! I got you!”

Jaime groaned, and she could only assume it was from the agony of defeat. She didn’t move to get off of him, though, wanting to maintain her victory that much longer.

“Let’s go again – I want to see if I really have it.”

“No, I uh, have to go.”

“Oh, come on, Jaime, don’t be a sore loser.”

“I’m not…I mean…uh, can you get up now?”

She obliged, and Jaime leaped to his feet, suddenly interested in pulling his shirt down below his waist as far as it would go. Brienne looked at him in confusion. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I, uh, just remembered something I have to do. Nice job. I’ll see you tomorrow for studying.”

And with that, Jaime turned and raced out of the gym. Brienne stared after him, wondering what had happened. It was almost as if…

No…

It wasn’t possible, was it? Jaime could not have gotten…er…excited over wrestling with her. That had never happened before.

Besides, someone like Brienne never had that effect on guys. She just chalked it up to Lannister being his weird self and went home for the day.

But the next day, Jaime was acting even weirder. In the morning, Brienne felt his eyes on her wherever she went. At lunch, instead of sitting with friends, he plopped across from her.

“What are you reading?”

She just gaped at him in shock for a moment before recovering. “A book on ancient swords of Westeros. Aren’t your friends going to wonder what happened to you?”

“They’ll be fine. OOOOOh I love stuff on swords – does it have pictures?” He whipped the book out of her hands before she could stop him and started flipping through it.

“Did you know my family still has these?” He showed her a picture of Widow’s Wail and Oathkeeper. “At our country estate. Maybe I can show you sometime.”

Brienne leaned forward in excitement. “Really, Jaime? That would be awesome.” Jaime was looking at her in a way that she didn’t really understand, so she looked back down at her lunch quickly.

“Yeah, it would be fun. You know, if I lived back then, I would probably be a knight.”

“Me too.”

“They didn’t really let ladies be knights,” he argued, and Brienne’s hackles went up.

“There were some exceptions, including some in my family’s history.”

He grinned at her, clearly happy that she was annoyed with him. “That’s right, you are named after her, right?”

She nodded, but he just shrugged. “Still, knowing our luck I would probably be a farmer and you would be a tavern wench.”

Brienne laughed. “Me, a tavern wench?”

“Indeed, and tossing out the drunk fools whenever they get too rowdy.”

“And would you be one of those drunken farmers?”

“Yes, and I’d be yelling ‘Wench, fetch me more ale!’ all the time, and you would toss me out too.”

This caused her to giggle more. “I could, I’m strong enough.”

Jaime gave her an appraising look. “That you are, probably the only one who could, wench.”

Brienne groaned. “You’re not going to start calling me that now, are you?”

“Of course I am.”

She sighed. The last thing she needed was another nickname. The boys on the wrestling team jokingly called her “Brienne the Beauty” behind her back, or maybe they knew she was listening. She wouldn’t put it past that lot. Although, she somehow liked the way Jaime’s eyes twinkled when he called her wench.

“Are we still on for studying at your house tonight? I can stay as late as we want, because my brother is staying with our cousins so he’s safe from my sister’s torture.”

The thought of another evening of Jaime in her bedroom filled her with both excitement and dread, if that were possible. She was really starting to enjoy spending time with him, but she knew that it would end sometime soon and she was just setting her heart up for disappointment. Brienne didn’t want another Renly situation.

“Fine, we will study, but it shouldn’t take too long.”

“Trying to get rid of me, wench? That hurts. I’ll see you after school. I’ll bring snacks.”

And with a wink, he got up and tossed his lunch tray before heading out to class.

Brienne stayed in her seat for another moment, picking at the remains of her plate, not really paying attention to the contents of her book. Jaime always seemed to have that effect on her. She was getting ready to give up on lunch when yet another Lannister slid into the seat across from her.

Cersei Lannister. This could not be good.

“Brienne the Beauty, that’s what they call you, isn’t it?”

“Hello Cersei, lovely to see you,” Brienne said, trying to keep things polite.

“I’ve noticed you’ve spent an awful lot of time with my brother lately.”

“I’m tutoring him – didn’t he tell you?”

Cersei sneered at her words. “Oh yes, you are helping him with his little problem.” She did air quotes when she said the word “problem,” so Brienne assumed she had the same attitude towards Jaime’s learning disability as his father. She felt a moment of grief that he came from such a family that didn’t understand him.

“He’s doing really well, and truthfully, he’s helping me too, with wrestling.”

She huffed. “Hadn’t heard that part.”

Cersei stared at Brienne for what felt like an eternity. Her cool, calculating gaze making Brienne feel vulnerable and disarmed.

“My brother shouldn’t be seen with the likes of you, let alone be your friend. He will lose his social status.”

“I know that. I’m not friends with your brother, Cersei, not really.”

Again, Cersei sized her up before pouncing. “But you have fallen for him. Poor pathetic Brienne. Listen to my words. That will never happen. My brother could never be with a great cow like you.”

Gleeful at her blow against Brienne, Cersei got up.

“And you will never be a Targaryen,” Brienne mumbled under her breath.

“Excuse me?”

“Oh nothing.” Brienne opened her book and went back to reading, pretending Cersei’s presence didn’t bother her at all, even though her heart was racing and her every instinct begged for her to flee to the girl’s bathroom and cry. She would not give Cersei the satisfaction.

“I heard what you said.”

“Lovely, now can you go? I want to finish this chapter before the bell.”

Cersei marched off in a huff, and Brienne suppressed a smile. She couldn’t believe she had stood up to Jaime’s sister and lived to tell the tale. She briefly wondered what sort of revenge the cheerleader would take in the future. Note to self – avoid stages that might have buckets of pig’s blood over them, she thought, thinking of the high school horror movie,  _ Carrie _ .

Jaime would appreciate that high school movie reference. _ Shut up, stop thinking of Jaime. _

Easier said than done.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jamie tries to convince Brienne of her feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, it's been another week since my last update. I'm so sorry. But here it is! I hope you enjoy it. 
> 
> Many thanks to Ashley, my beloved bestie, for reading this through for me.

Jaime paced up and down the sidewalk in front of Brienne’s house with excitement. He had been so eager to come over that he arrived 15 minutes earlier than the time they set to meet.

Bronn’s words about his feelings toward Brienne really had an impact on him yesterday, and after spending the better of last night and all morning processing his feelings, he decided that his friend may indeed be correct.

He was attracted to Brienne. And he didn’t know what to do about it. So today at lunch he decided that his first step should be to stop avoiding her at school. He plopped down and had a conversation with her at lunch, enjoying their banter back and forth.

My wench, he thought with a grin. He couldn’t remember a more pleasant lunchtime. And she liked ancient swords and history as much as he did. It was awesome.

But now that he was here in front of her house, he was afraid to go in. What if his feelings changed things between them? What if she didn’t feel the same way?

Well, then, he would annoy her by being a constant presence in her life until she changed her mind.

Brienne smiled at him when she opened the door, so his friendly behavior at lunch hadn’t made her suspicious or anything. And she didn’t look like she had any fresh tears, as he had feared when he saw Cersei talking to Brienne at lunch.

But there was…something…in Brienne’s eyes that told him she wasn’t completely happy.

“What did she do to you? What did she say?”

His words were out before she had even closed the door behind him.

“Well hello to you too, Jaime. From your great cow of a friend.”

“Oh gods, Brienne, I’m so sorry. You don’t deserve that.”

“She’s…interesting, your sister. I only hope I haven’t incurred her wrath forever when I responded that she’s not a Targaryen in relationship to you.”

Jaime’s mouth dropped. “You did not.”

She looked nervous. “I did. I’m so sorry that I brought it up with her, Jaime, but she was being so mean.”

Jaime burst out laughing. “That is so great! Now I’m really sorry I had to go to class and missed the look on her face at that.”

Brienne’s shoulders relaxed in relief. Had she worried that she upset him by arguing with his sister?

“Wench, listen. Forget Cersei, she’s a bitch most of the time. And when we graduate, she has plans to be long gone and go to the city and marry rich. I’m proud of you for standing up to her. Most people wouldn’t,” he explained.

Brienne blushed at his words, and it was the loveliest thing he had ever seen. She had an ugly face, but it was his favorite face in the world now. And she could almost be a beauty to him now. It was amazing how affection could change the way you view the world.

“Should we study?” she asked, embarrassed at his praise and clearly wanting to move on from the conversation.

Jaime continued to study her later when he was laying in her bed and she was reading to him. He liked this arrangement now because he could look his fill. She had freckles on her face – how had he not noticed before. And very full lips.

“Have you ever kissed anyone?” The question slipped out before he could stop it, and Brienne returned to the shade of red she had graced him with earlier.

“What? Why are you asking?”

“I’m just wondering.”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Well, we’re friends now…right? That’s something you would tell a friend.”

“Are we friends, Jaime?”

“Of course we are. We ate lunch together, I’m over at your house. I’m staying for dinner.”

Brienne gaped at him. “What?”

“Oh yeah, your dad invited me to stay when we were on our way up to your room. I said yes.”

“Why would you want to stay to dinner?”

Jaime sighed. The wench really was dense. And he was in for a long journey here, but she was worth it.

“Because we are friends and I enjoy spending time with you,” he explained, and Brienne gave him a suspicious look.

“I feel like you’re up to something, but I can’t figure it out.”

“I’m up to nothing, wench, except hanging out.”

“Don’t call me wench,” she growled, and he just laughed at her and called her that again. He stopped laughing when Brienne’s leg swept out and pushed him off the bed. And before he could even think, she was using the move he taught her to pin him to the floor.

“Don’t call me wench, I said.” Her face was inches from his, and her hot breath was on his cheek.

“Brienne…” And then he went for it; he leaned up and kissed her. She gasped into his mouth and froze for a moment before softening against him. This was what he was made for – kissing Brienne Tarth on her bedroom floor.

When she finally pulled away, she blushed red as he tucked a blonde lock behind her ears. “There, now you know what it feels like,” he said in a hoarse whisper. He regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth because for some reason they made Brienne shut down completely. 

“Brienne, what is it?”

Registering no emotions, she climbed off him, picked up her book and started reading again.

He kept trying to get her attention again, but she just ignored him and kept reading. When Selwyn called to them about dinner being ready, Brienne jumped out of bed and raced for the door, not even looking to see if Jaime followed.

He had messed up, and he didn’t know how to fix it.

**

Dinner that night was an awkward affair, Brienne thought. Her father was chattering happily at them, not realizing anything was amiss between them. She couldn’t bring herself to look at Jaime, who was politely chiming in whenever appropriate in her dad’s conversation.

He had kissed her. She had her first kiss, and it was with Jaime Lannister. And it was nice. More than nice, it was amazing. Brienne fought the urge to touch her fingers to her lips, but she could swear she still felt Jaime on them. She would definitely be dreaming about it tonight.

For a moment there she had allowed herself to believe that Jaime really wanted to kiss her. That he had feelings for her. But then he had said that now she knew what it felt like and she realized the truth – it was a pity kiss. He knew that she had never been kissed before and out of some misguided loyalty had wanted to do the job.

She should have known.

At least Jaime seemed to genuinely want to be her friend, but she honestly didn’t know how she was going to look him in the face again after this.

After dinner, Jaime excused himself and Brienne walked him to the door.

“Brienne, I’m sorry for what I said, I didn’t mean…” he started, but Brienne held up a hand to stop him.

“It’s okay, Jaime. I know you just felt sorry for me. Well, I’ve been kissed now. So thanks.”

Jaime’s eyes flashed.

“Thanks? Thanks? Thanks, is all you have to say after what happened in the room?”

“Well, what do you want me to say?” Brienne was confused by his reaction. For what reason did he have to be mad?

Jaime raked his hand through his hair in frustration. “I don’t know…that you liked it? That it was one of the best moments of your life?”

“A little full of yourself, aren’t you?”

“No, I’m just hoping that you felt the same way about the whole thing as me!”

Brienne blinked at him. What had he just said?

“What do you mean?”

Jaime sighed and stepped closer to her. “I was hoping, wench, that you liked it as much as I did. And that it was one of the best moments of your life because it was mine.”

Brienne’s brain could not even comprehend what was going on right now. She wanted to believe him, but memories of Hyle and all the others threatened to invade.

“You liked kissing me?”

He took another step closer so that he was almost flush with her body. “Yes, and I want to kiss you again. Brienne, forget about those jerks in the past and believe me, please.”

Brienne looked into his eyes and saw nothing but affection and sincerity there.

“You’re not like other guys, are you?”

“There are no guys like me, only me,” he said before leaning in and kissing her again.

His cell phone started buzzing in his pocket and he groaned.

“I will bet you 20 dragons that it is Cersei calling you,” Brienne said. She was right but didn’t press him to pay up.

“Ugh, I had better go.”

“She’s not going to like this.”

“She can go to all seven hells as far as I’m concerned,” Jaime said before kissing her quickly again. “I’ll see you in school tomorrow.”

She hesitated. “It’s okay if you change your mind…about us.”

He blinked at her in confusion. “Why would I do that?”

Brienne shrugged. She still didn’t believe him fully. This was all so surreal to her and happening fast. She needed him to go so she could go up to her room and brood about it for a while.

“Brienne…I’m not messing with you.”

She sighed and squeezed his hands. “I trust you. I just need to…process.”

He grinned. “Ever my Brienne, can’t do anything unless she’s pondered it glumly for a while.”

“I do not ponder glumly.”

This made him laugh, and he gave her a quick kiss and was out the door. Brienne stared after him, her heart beating wildly at the fact that he had called her “his Brienne.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of THE KISS, and what happens when Cersei finds out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter! Hope you enjoy it.

Brienne stood at the doorway, watching Jaime drive away after dinner.

“That’s a nice young man, not like all the rumors I’ve heard about him and his family. When you first brought him here, I was a bit concerned,” Selwyn said from behind her.

Brienne whirled to face him. “Dad…how long were you there?”

“Oh, not long at all. Just to witness a kiss and you getting hesitant on the boy. Really, Brienne, you shouldn’t toy with him.”

“I’m not a tease!” She could not believe her father was talking to her this way. 

“Well, you have no reason to doubt him. That boy is clearly smitten with you, beyond a doubt. You can tell by the way he looks at you. Like he thinks you’re beautiful. I know you’re beautiful, and I think he does too.”

Brienne scoffed at her father’s words but thought about them as she was heading toward her room. Had Jaime really been looking at her like that?

She plopped on her bed and stared at her ceiling. She brought her fingers up to trace her lips. She had gotten her first kiss. Well, kisses. And it was with JAIME. Brienne was sure her life would never be the same after this, and even if they went back to being friends tomorrow, she would always have the memory of that kiss to cling to.

Brienne rolled over to find her phone to check and see if maybe he messaged her when he got home. No missed messages, but her hand landed on something else in the bed – Jaime’s textbook. He had left it behind amidst all the distractions tonight.

She flipped it open to see that he had some writing on the inside cover. Brienne laughed at this. Rich people could afford to write in their books because they could just dole out cash to buy a new one for the school. The less fortunate kids had to treat their books gently because they would incur fines if they were too rough with their textbooks.

Jaime had taken excellent notes on the inside cover of his book. His handwriting was improving, not too many words had to be crossed out because of a mistake due to his dyslexia.

When she got to the middle of the page in her reading, Brienne froze. There was her name, with a heart drawn around it. Jaime had done a love doodle about her. She blinked at it several times before a big grin filled her face. Maybe he really did like her after all.

**

The next day, Brienne waited by Jaime’s locker for him to arrive. The first bell rang, however, and he was nowhere to be found. He didn’t show up for second hour either, which was disheartening since they had the exam they had been preparing for. Jaime wouldn’t skip it unless something was majorly wrong.

At lunchtime, she bucked her tradition of sitting alone to seek out Bronn, one of Jaime’s friends. She would have tried Tyrion first, but he was also noticeably absent, along with Cersei. Something was going on with the Lannisters in general. Maybe Bronn would know.

“You didn’t hear? Varys has been gossiping about it all morning in the hallways. Jaime is in the hospital,” Bronn said jovially as if this wasn’t tragic news. Bronn never took anything seriously.

“What? Why? Is he alright?”

“Well, of course, he’s not alright. He’s in the hospital. When he got home last night, his sister was in a jealous rage about him liking another girl,” Bronn sized her up. “And I think you know what I’m talking about.”

Brienne closed her eyes to try to calm herself. She had known that Cersei would do something.

“It seems she had her eyes on Jaime like they were the Targaryen’s of old, wanting to have sex with her own brother. Jaime, of course, told her she was mad, and she attacked him.”

She thought about the size of Jaime and the size of his sister. “She attacked him? With what?”

“A baseball bat. Took him by surprise and broke his hand. No, not just broke it, completely demolished it. Now he’s recovering from emergency surgery and his sister is in the loony bin.”

Brienne’s breath hitched. Jaime was hurt. And it was her fault for spending too much time with Jaime. She knew Cersei was a bit unhinged, but not downright insane.

“The real question is why are you still standing here and not running out of here to get to the hospital to him?”

“I don’t know if I should…I mean his family is there with him and he probably doesn’t want me to…”

Bronn slammed his head on the table in frustration. “You two are idiots. He likes you. You like him. Not stop being dumb and go see him.”

Brienne didn’t need to be told twice. She did the most dishonorable thing she had ever done – she lied to the school nurse and told her she was sick and needed to go home. Instead, she drove to the hospital to see Jaime.

It was jarring to witness the normally arrogant and strong Jaime Lannister look so small and sad in that hospital bed. He was looking out the window when she came in.

“Jaime…”

He turned when she spoke, and his lips turned up a little.

“Brienne. You came.”

“Yeah, Bronn basically yelled at me to. How are you? That’s a dumb question. Of course you are terrible. I mean, how are you feeling? Do you need anything?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you babble like that before.”

Brienne shrugged and sat down in the chair next to his bed. “I’m just worried. I’m so sorry this happened to you. It’s all my fault. If you hadn’t spent so much time with me. If I hadn’t said that thing to her about the Targaryens...”

Jaime sighed. “Brienne, look at me.” 

She raised her tear-filled eyes to his.

“This. Is. Not. Your. Fault. My sister is insane and if she hadn't cracked tonight, it would have happened on a different day.”

“But…”

“But, nothing. She’s a loon. You are not. I’m sorry to worry you. And I’m sorry I wasn’t there to hold your hand this morning and kiss you again. You probably thought that I chickened out of our relationship – didn’t you?”

She quirked an eyebrow at him. “Relationship? Is that what we are in now?”

“Yes, I mean I want to be if you do. Will you be my girlfriend Brienne? Although I won’t be able to hold your hand for a while, if ever.”

“If ever?”

Jaime looked away. “The doctor’s said they don’t know if they were able to repair all the nerve damage. Only time will tell. One thing for sure – I’m going to be out of sports for a while. Who am I if not the school’s top athlete?”

Brienne reached out and grabbed his uninjured hand. “You are Jaime Lannister, an ancient weapons expert. Excellent friend. Funny guy…occasionally. And you still have a working hand.”

Jaime looked down at their joined hands for a moment before he turned his green eyes back on her.

“You never answered my question, wench – will you be my girlfriend?”

She leaned over his bed and kissed his lips with a smile. “Yes, I will, but you have to stop calling me wench.”

He grinned again, and she was glad to bring a smile to his face, despite his circumstances. “Never,” he said, before using his good hand to pull her in for another kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. :)

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed. Will probably update every other day.


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